Prize hound
by hildekitten
Summary: When one of Josef's freshies ends up dead he's hell bend on getting to the bottom of it.


The room was vacant and dimly lit, only the tables and grooming supplies present. It was a room where dog shows are prepared, where the sniping, bickering and dressing up of canine companions happened. A young woman in a green dress with red hair walked in with her dog, a white German Shepherd, on it's leash, going straight to their table. She sighed with relief when she saw her bag was still there and went to pick it up. When she heard hushed voices from the next room she doubted, obviously torn between the excitement of eavesdropping and the common sense of just leaving. The excitement won out after a moment and she sneaked to the door, listening closely and holding a hand in front of her mouth in shock when she heard "well if you couldn't push that many painkillers you should have ordered less, I want the money by the end of the week, no excuses." The speaker's female voice was ice cold.

Suddenly the door was pulled open and the eaves dropper jumped back, looking apologetic, like a kid caught stealing cookies before dinner by an angry parent.

"I'm sorry I just heard voices and came to see who was still here, I didn't mean to …"

She never got the chance to finish her sentence as the gunshot to the head killed her in an instant. Her dog was shot next, falling down next to its owner.

"Such a shame." The cold voice spoke again. "That was a beautiful dog."

*fade to Mick's place*

Josef was pacing around, agitated.

"Josef I full well understand you can't just let the death of your favourite freshie go unpunished, but think of what you're asking." Mick was trying to make his best friend see sense.

Ophelia was distinctively ignoring the both of them, editing photos on her computer.

"You'd be interfering on an investigation by the police and DA's office into drug trafficking at local dog shows. So what? You've butted in on the investigations of the DA's office more times than we can count from memory. And so what if the hound objects, your sister will smooth things over if needs be, she has her uses" Josef rejected Mick's protests.

Ophelia smirked but otherwise ignored them, focussing on her computer again.

"You forget, my friend, that animals hate vampires. I don't want to risk getting attacked by some dog."

"Afraid that some yapper will bite you in the ankles?" Josef was daring Mick now.

"No I'm afraid that some huge dog like a great Dane will attack me and I'll vamp out in reflex and blow our code of secrecy." Mick retorted, sounding annoyed.

"Send in Beth then."

"I'm not sending Beth in harm's way. And even IF she would do it, which I'm sure she will in the end anyway seeing how hell bend she is on solving cases, we still don't have a dog."

"Ok I will admit that finding a dog that doesn't freak out anywhere near a vampire will get trickier." Josef sighed and joined Mick in thought, continuing to pace.

Ophelia turned her head, smirked and just looked at them before shaking her head wearily.

"Oh you two, you're not seeing what's in front of you." She held up a warning hand to Josef before he could interject some kind of snarky remark at that sentence. "We have something better than a dog. We have a werewolf."

"A werewolf?" Mick sounded unconvinced.

It took a few moments for it to dawn on him. "Oh that's just mean sis. And whilst I like the sheer evil of that plan, I don't see it work. A wolf posing as a dog is bound to alert people."

"Saerloos wolf hound actually. I've already mailed Logan to fix us some pedigree documents. He owes me big time, he might as well make good for it. Do something useful with his time for once."

"Your sister is an evil genius." Josef whispered in Mick's ear. "Even I hadn't thought of that."

"I heard that, and coming from you I'll see it as a compliment. Now if you boys will excuse me, I've got to find my boyfriend and take him shopping for doggie supplies, a nice collar and a leash for starters."

"That sounded so so wrong." Mick sighed.

**Mick voice-over**

"_Why do I get the feeling that dog jokes will be doing the rounds for the foreseeable future?"_

*fade to a pet shop*

"What are we doing here?" Ben was eyeing it suspiciously. "I thought vampires and animals didn't mix well."

"Well you know that dog show case you're working on?"

"Yes the one I tried to talk your brother out of getting involved in, despite the dead girl was a freshie. Am I failing?"

"Oh no, we think we've got a perfect in without us getting involved beyond delivering some handy props and sitting by the sideline to barge in and play cavalry that arrives on time."

"Let's hear it then." Ben folded his arms, looking amused.

"Beth is going to participate in the show."

"I know that much, I signed off on the ok for that undercover operation remember. So your part is providing the dog?"

"No, our part is to provide stuff for the dog and paperwork."

"So where are we going to get a dog?" It took him about 2 seconds to realise who exactly was the dog and he raised his arms in protest. "Oh no,… no way. In case you hadn't checked Ophelia, it's a dog show, not a wolf show."

"Saerloos wolf hound, can't tell the difference. See it like this, you'd be able to shift back and protect Beth if need be, plus you get to choose all your own accessories!"

Ben gave her one of those looks he always reserved for people he was admitting his defeat to but being not pleased at all about it. Sighing he wandered in the shop behind her.

"I'm not wearing anything with bling or girlie colours, as long as you keep that in mind." He grumbled in his girlfriend's ear.

"And here I was thinking you'd look so adorable in pastel blue with purple rhinestones." She held up a collar and leash set.

*fade at Ben taking the collar from her hands and giving her an extremely unimpressed look.*

Mick's apartment

"So how exactly did you guys managed to convince Ben to go with this plan? It's a great plan mind! I love the plan!" Beth grinned over dinner.

"Well we let Ophelia do the convincing really." Mick explained, causing Josef to snigger.

"Josef…" Simone warned him, having a drink from her glass of blood.

"I wasn't going to say it out loud!" he protested in mock indignation.

"Yes you were." His girlfriend said, giving him an annoyed look.

"You know me too well." He pouted adorably, earning himself a kiss.

"So…" Beth tried to get the conversation back on track.

"So tomorrow you'll be going undercover in the show with your prize dog, a Saerloos wolf hound, which is a rare breed, we've got all the info on them you need to know in that folder."

"Wow, you guys were really determined to get to the killer weren't you?"

"No one kills my freshies but me." Josef said darkly.

"Well that and we kindda love making Ben suffer." Mick admitted.

Ophelia and Simone gave him a mock stern look, Beth even tsked at him, but he could see they were just as amused as he was.

*fade to the dog show*

Beth was walking to her appointed table with Ben next to her, walking next to her on a brown leather leash in wolf form. He had clearly stated before hand that if he were to be paraded around he was going to damn well win the trophy. It seemed to be a matter of honour. Or possibly to prove both his point and Jules' that wolves are superior to dogs, which was not something Josef seemed to believe at all.

Beth was starting to feel quite uncomfortable under all the stares of the other participants, especially as none were particularly friendly.

She tried to ignore the whispers and sat down, rummaging through her bag with her free hand.

"Ignore them, they're vultures in it for the prize money instead of the fun." The woman next to her was in her forties, wearing a comfortable yet stylish and no doubt very expensive grey designer dress.

She reached out a hand to Beth "Cassandra Phillips, but you can call me Cassie, everyone does."

"Beth Turner." Beth shook the hand. "I take it you're in for the fun?"

The older woman chuckled "what gave it away? Me being nice to you?"

"Well …yeah." Beth admitted.

"I love your dog by the way, I've never seen a wolfhound in the circuit before, especially not one as big as this one. First generation?"

"Yes, from a breeder in France."

"Well it's a beautiful dog!" She bent down to pat Ben on the head, who was eyeing Cassie's own Pomeranian suspiciously.

"So what caused you to join?"

"Oh well, some friends of mine put me up to it really." Beth admitted. "How did you start on competitions?"

"Honey it was either this or the country club, and trust me, these sharks are a lot nicer than bored housewives."

*fade at them both laughing*

Mick's apartment

"So I hear you got through to the finals tomorrow." He was looking amused at Ben.

"Of course I did."

"There's a good boy!" Ophelia patted him on the head, earning herself a very annoyed look.

"Careful sis, he might bite."

"Ow no he wouldn't, he loves me too much to bite me."

"Guys really, stop it." Ben warned them, obviously fed up.

"Ben you need to shift back, we're invited to a dinner with all the others who got through to the finals." Beth came off the phone, holding up the leash.

*fade at Ben groaning and looking annoyed*

A fancy restaurant downtown.

"So Beth, you must be proud, getting such a rookie victory." A woman slightly older than Beth who owned a french poodle was sounding quite nasty. Jealousy obvious in her voice.

"I am yes."

"He won't win you know, the judges want a cute dog, something that looks good on endorsements and promotional material. Not some kind of wild wood walker type dog." A friend of the first woman added.

"Well we'll see who'll win tomorrow won't we Courtney." Beth said defensively.

"Lay off her you hags." Cassie defended her new friend.

"Or what? Are you going to set that hairy rat loose on us?"

"No I'll cut you off, and then what ever will you do to remain your popularity at the country club?"

Both women muttered apologies, getting stern looks from the final two participants that had remained silent up to that point.

Beth sighed and stood up "excuse me for a moment, I need to use the bathroom."

"Oh me too." Cassie said, leaning over to Beth she whispered "you better take the dog too, they might try to feed him something that will make him ill later so he can't compete tomorrow."

"Oh trust me, he can take care of himself."

Under the table Ben inwardly rolled his eyes, and point blank ignored everything offered to him, shoving a little white pill under a fallen napkin with his nose pretending he ate it, much to the glee of the woman who tried to feed it to him.

In the bathroom Cassie was touching up her make up.

"So what supply where you talking about?" Beth asked curiously, faking interest.

"My husband is a doctor, I do all of his orders. So occasionally I order an extra prescription pad. I'm very good at forging his signature and handwriting."

"So you're pushing drugs?"

"I'm pushing boredom alleviation to these desperate housewives who need them to get through their sorry lives yes. Want in?"

"I don't really think it's my thing…"

"It could be."

"I'm not a member of the country club."

"Exactly, you'll bring a whole new string of customers, you'll see, you'll make loads of cash."

"Oh I don't know." Beth was sounding very uncomfortable now. Cursing herself inwardly for getting into this situation without Ben next to her.

"Either you're in, or you're out Beth." Cassie's voice sounded suddenly distinctively threatening.

"Is that what happened to the girl who died last week?" She blurted out and as soon as she had said the words, she knew she was in big big trouble.

"I knew you were too good to be true." Cassie narrowed her eyes.

"No I'm just wondering what happened, I heard someone got killed."

Beth gasped as Cassie took a dagger from her purse. She was looking around frantically, knowing there was no way out. Cursing herself inwardly again, this time for not bringing her gun, she started backing away slowly until she felt her back hit the wall.

"I wish you would have said yes right away Beth, I had high hopes for you."

"The people from the restaurant will know we were the only ones in here."

"The restaurant is owned by Courtney and filled with illegal immigrants as employees, no one will say a thing. Any last words?"

Before Beth could say anything the bathroom window broke and Cassie was thrown back by Ophelia, who was throwing her full weight against the other woman. They both slid over the floor, coming to a halt against the door with a thump. Ophelia got up first, putting her foot on Cassie's throat. "Don't even think about it bitch."

She cried out in pain when Cassie plunged the knife in her knee.

The woman twisted it inside the wound, causing Ophelia to growl out in pain "not so tough anymore now huh red."

Cassie gasped as Ophelia bend down and squeezed Cassie's throat shut with one bare hand growling at her, their faces but an inch apart.

Beth snapped out of her surprised daze and ran forward, grabbing the gun from Ophelia's shoulder holster and pointing it at Cassie "put your hands up, NOW. Don't think for a second I won't shoot."

The determination in her voice was enough to convince the murderer she wasn't kidding and forced her into compliance, feeling the iron grip on her throat relax now Ophelia was convinced she wasn't going to try anything funny anymore.

She was biting her lip, obviously in pain and looked down at the knife, deciding how to best pull it out. Suddenly she felt it, waves of nausea. Carefully she limped to the open window, leaving a trail of blood behind her, shouting out in a voice so low only her brother, who was waiting outside at the restaurant entrance, could hear it.

Mick heard his sister's call for help loud and clear on a level humans couldn't possibly hear. Apparently he wasn't the only one because he saw Ben coming to the door in wolf form. Pulling open the door he allowed the wolf to get out, running to around the corner where the women's bathroom was. Mick was right behind him. There wasn't a soul in sight, allowing Ben to shift back unnoticed.

"Dude leave this to me, get inside. Call back-up." Mick shouted before jumping through the window.

Doubt was clear on Ben's face and he cursed once before going back to the entrance, practically running into Courtney coming out, the others right behind her.

He held up his badge and smiled coldly. "I don't think so ladies."

Inside the bathroom Beth kept Cassie under gunpoint. She knew Mick was there, she could hear him talk to his sister in hushed whispers behind her back. She hadn't heard him come in, no matter how many times she got into situations like this, the vampire jumping and stealth never stopped to freak her out to some degree or other.

"Wow you don't get hurt half assed do you? Don't worry, I'll get it out in no time once we get home and I have my medical kit near me."

She answered with panic in her voice that nearly made Beth turn around to look at the redhead. "It's a silver blade."

"Shit. Then I need to pull it out immediately before you get silver poisoning."

"It's lodged in my kneecap, you need to twist it back first."

"Oh hell, I'm going to have to break your knee…" Mick looked at her with pity, holding her hand with one hand whilst he put his free hand on the knife's handle.

"Ready?"

"No but do it anyway."

They both took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and squeezed his hand. He took one more look at the wound, feeling her knee before giving the knife another sharp twist and pulling it out. The bloodcurdling scream of pain send cold shivers through anyone in the restaurant, making one of the women being held there by Ben pass out from shock.

Mick pulled his sister up, allowing her to lean on him. He glared at Cassie and growled.

"Don't Mick… let the law deal with her." Ophelia's voice was weak, and she was sheet white, blood flowing down her leg. "They'll be here soon enough…"

They could hear the sirens speeding closer already.

**Mick voice-over**

_That bitch is lucky there's too many people that will ask too many questions nearby or I would have torn her to shreds…_

*fade to Josef's living room*

"So no trophy for you huh." Josef picked on Ben.

"Can it Kostan."

"Sore loser."

"Guys stop it." Mick interjected.

"Stop picking on Ben!" Ophelia agreed with her older brother.

"I'm not afraid of you, you're still limping. Your speed is reduced so dramatically you have nothing on me." Josef shot back.

She gave him a look and said coldly "I could just ring uncle Lance you know."

Josef narrowed his eyes at her but shut up, knowing full well he had lost this one.

Beth was sitting at the table with Mick, away from the others in the sofas, looking at the young oracle.

"Will Ophelia be ok? She's still limping quite badly."

"Hopefully she will be in the end, I'm afraid that knife may have done a lot of internal damage. And for all the augmented healing the family has, we still can't heal silver damage at accelerated rate."

"I feel responsible. If she hadn't have to save me. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad she did but I feel like she got hurt because of me."

"Beth, don't beat yourself up about it, she's not holding it against you. To be honest I think she feels she repaid you for allowing you to get taken by the Sheppard's so called family. Just be glad that she had a vision about Ben being given a pill under a table. Or else we might not have been on time."

"Thankfully you were, and thankfully we still managed to arrest all of them. They're all facing some very heavy charges on drug dealing. And Cassie is facing first degree murder, extortion and attempted murder as well. Especially seeing Ben had hidden that pill under the napkin I 'accidently' dropped under the table. He retrieved it later once he had shifted back to human form, its material evidence."

"Such a clever dog that one."

She gave her fiancé a stern look and then her poker face broke as she burst out in laughter, causing him to heartily join in.


End file.
